Human rights situation worsens in Azerbaijan – rights activist

Turan news agency
29 Mar 07

Baku, 29 March: With every pre-election year the human rights
situation in Azerbaijan continues to deteriorate, Eldar Zeynalov, head
of the Azerbaijani Human Rights Centre, has told Turan.

Lawsuits against newspapers, physical violence against journalists and
the arrest of MP Huseyn Abdullayev are all parts of the election
campaign which is effectively under way. "However, the authorities
will not stop here. As the election draws closer and the election
campaign starts officially, the situation will become even worse,"
Zeynalov said.

He believes that the machinery of putting pressure on the independent
press is started each time PACE [Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe] prepares to discuss the situation in Azerbaijan. The main
objective is to make society fearful so that people cease to fight for
their rights and freedoms. "Through these actions the authorities
form the negative image of the head of state and put him in a
difficult position vis-a-vis international organizations," the human
rights champion said.

Still, Zeynalov said that reforms under way in prisons are bringing
them closer to European standards. Compared to previous years, there
has been some improvement in this area. At the same time, there are a
lot of those who do not realize that inmates have rights as
well. Isolation of prisoners from society leads to
suicides. "Rehabilitation requires that inmates be treated kindly,"
Zeynalov said.

Another issue is use of torture in police departments during
preliminary investigation. Even though the number of such facts keeps
growing, only several people have been brought to justice. As a
result, 10 people died of torture in police departments in 2006,
Zeynalov said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress